Jamie Dobie believes it will be ‘really’ exciting if Glasgow Warriors play their 1872 Cup home clash against Edinburgh at Hampden Park.
It’s understood that Glasgow will confirm their decision on Tuesday morning to switch their URC fixture in December from their usual stadium at Scotstoun to the home of Scottish football.
News emerged over the weekend of the intended plans with Warriors chiefs aiming to attract a bigger crowd for the fixture to capitalise on the increased exposure from winning the URC title last season.
Almost 38,000 supporters attended Murrayfield for the reverse 1872 Cup fixture in the capital last season and Dobie insists it’s a positive move.
“I think it's a really exciting opportunity if that does happen,” he admitted. “Obviously I've seen the rumours circling and the potential for that to happen. I think that would be great.
“I mean, obviously we love playing at Scotstoun and our fans are great, especially in those big games. We've obviously had a good record against Edinburgh and against other teams recently, but I think the opportunity to take it to a bigger stadium and obviously another national stadium in Glasgow would be great and hopefully can attract some new fans and get more people in the doors.
“I don't know if Glasgow have played there before but I've never been to or played at Hampden. So I think that would be an awesome opportunity and hopefully we can get as many people through the gates if the game is moved there because the Murrayfield one sells really well and they've always got a good crowd. So it would be great to have that for both legs of the match.”
I hope our results at the end of last season and winning the championship has inspired some new fans and around Glasgow, around the West of Scotland and Caledonia as well. And hopefully people are attracted to come to our games and Hampden's a great opportunity for people who maybe haven't or don't come to Scotstoun or haven't in the past. If there are some more tickets available, then they can come, especially around Christmas with people spending time with families and that can be a great chance.
“I remember going to a couple of the games at Murrayfield when I was at school and younger with the whole family when you're together for Christmas. So for a combination of it being at Hampden potentially and the time of year, it would be great if we can have as many people come to support as possible.”
It would represent a first trip to Hampden for Dobie with the Inverness-native missing out on watching his hometown team playing against Celtic in the Scottish Cup final in 2023.
“I debated going when Inverness played in the cup final,” he added. “I don't think they're in the best of ways at the moment but they obviously were in the Scottish Cup final a good few years ago, so I debated it because that's obviously my local team, but I never actually managed to get there. And my dad's from Dumfries, so I think Queen of the South also made an appearance there too. But no, I never actually made it to, not to a game at Hampden. So yeah: it would be an awesome opportunity.”
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